Putin said in the interview that Russia would fight for its interests “till the end” but was not interested in spreading its war in Ukraine to other countries such as Poland and Latvia. US journalist Tucker Carlson published the interview on his website on Thursday.
In his first interview with a US journalist since the war in Ukraine began nearly two years ago, Putin said Western leaders have come to realise that it is impossible to inflict a strategic defeat on Russia and are wondering what to do next.
The Russian president cited NATO’s eastward expansion as the cause of the “split” between Western countries and Russia. He claimed that “there was a promise that NATO would not expand eastward, but it happened five times,” saying Russia had tried to prevent the expansion that led to its conflict with Ukraine.
Asked about US policy towards Moscow, Putin said:
“They want weak leadership in Russia. Why would you want that? A weak central government in a country with the world’s largest nuclear arsenal is insane, especially in such a large and potentially turbulent country with so many religions and a 20 per cent Muslim population. You’re insane if you want to be. Our track record of knocking out a leader is mixed at best, and to do that to Russia, you have to be on drugs if you think it’s a good idea.”
In the two-hour interview, Putin hinted that he would be open to exchanging jailed WSJ journalist Evan Gershkovich, whom he described as a spy. He also defended his decision to launch a military operation in Ukraine in February 2022.
According to the Russian leader, Moscow has not yet achieved the set goals of “the special military operation”. Putin added that one of the main ones is the denazification of Ukraine, which implies banning any neo-Nazi movements. He noted:
“We haven’t achieved our goals yet, because one of the goals is denazification. This means banning all neo-Nazi movements.”
Putin also said the West now realises Russia will not be defeated despite US, European and NATO aid to Ukraine. He added:
“Until now there has been noise and cries about inflicting a strategic defeat on Russia on the battlefield. But now they are apparently beginning to realise that this is difficult to achieve, if not impossible.”
During the interview, the Russian president also sent a message to the US Congress, where Republicans have been increasingly reluctant to continue supporting Ukraine with arms and other military aid. Putin claimed:
“I will tell you what we are saying on this issue and what we are bringing to the US leadership. If you really want to stop fighting, you need to stop supplying arms.”
When asked if Moscow was considering expanding its military to other countries in the region – NATO members Poland and Latvia – or to the European continent in general, Putin said that was “out of the question.” He added:
“We have no interest in Poland, Latvia or anywhere else. Why would we do that? We simply have no interest. “
War with Poland, he said, would happen “only in one case: if Poland attacks Russia.”
According to Tucker Carlson, the interview was recorded in the Kremlin, where he stayed for about 5 hours. The journalist called Vladimir Putin intelligent, stressed that there “can be no doubt about it”.
Carlson admitted that it would take him a year to comprehend the conversation. Later, the American shared his impression of the interview in a video message, which he published from the hotel. Tucker Carlson said about the interview:
“The whole point of NATO is to contain Russia. He’s very upset about it. His eyes sparkled in the moments we talked about it.”
Russian President Vladimir Putin’s interview with American journalist Tucker Carlson racked up more than 50 million views on social network X in about five hours.
